by Andrew Mossbrooks | AHL On The Beat
“I went 18 years thinking I was perfectly healthy until I wasn’t one day.”
Those are the words of Rochester Americans forward Damien Giroux, a player that is all smiles despite challenges that few in or outside the hockey world have faced at his age.
Giroux, 23, is in his fourth professional season, but five years earlier in life, things took an unexpected turn.
In 2016, the Sudbury, Ont., native entered the Ontario Hockey League, skating with the Saginaw Spirit in Michigan. Giroux posted 25 points in his first season, a number he was not content with – which he attributed to his physical conditioning.
“I kind of caught myself being a little bit out of shape,” he said. “I wasn’t able to extend my shifts as long as I might have wanted to.”
So Giroux planned to dedicate his offseason to being on the ice and in the gym to put him in peak physical condition, convinced that this was the next step to go. Fast forward to 2018, and things still hadn’t improved. A physical that year clarified that Giroux’s fatigue had nothing to do with his workout routine.
A much more significant health matter existed.
“I had absolutely no idea,” he said. “I thought I was in perfect health. I needed a physical done for the hockey season and before my family doctor cleared me, she noticed a little heart murmur. She heard something and I wasn’t too sure what it might be or what to expect.”
Giroux’s doctor sent him in for numerous tests, including an echocardiogram and an electrocardiogram, in an attempt to locate and isolate the problem. When the results came back, Giroux was diagnosed with an atrial septal defect (ASD).
“So basically, when you’re born and you detach the umbilical cord and take your first breath, a little gap is supposed to form a wall in between the left and right ventricle. And I guess in some cases, it just never properly closes, so that’s the murmur that my family doctor had heard.”
Giroux had the ASD from the day he was born. He just never knew it.
“To hear that was definitely a harder pill to swallow, not really knowing what to expect, especially in that recovery,” he said. “While recovering, I didn’t really have anybody to kind of go off of. I didn’t really know how to come back from this.”
Fortunately for Giroux, his rehab began quickly, as the procedure to repair the defect was done almost immediately after confirming the ASD.
“I was pretty lucky everything happened super quick. But if it wasn’t for hockey and needing to get that physical originally, I don’t think I ever would have uncovered what was going on there.”
Now, Giroux gets his annual physical, and since his heart procedure, he has come back medically cleared and healthy each year since. Getting his ASD repaired allowed Giroux to return to major junior, and in his final season with Saginaw, Giroux – now team captain – amassed a career-best 75 points.
That success sprung him into the Minnesota Wild organization the following season, and a year later, Giroux accomplished what he had hoped for since he first laced up a pair of skates. On April 13, 2023, Giroux dressed for Minnesota in his NHL debut.
It was a moment Giroux won’t forget, but also one that wouldn’t have been possible without the physical years earlier. It’s become a piece of advice the young forward shares with others, having learned first-hand how important going to the doctor can be.
“I think the biggest thing is to actually take your checkups and your physicals and all that seriously, because from one year to the next, a lot can change,” he said.
“I went 18 years thinking I was perfectly healthy until I wasn’t one day. Take your health seriously and if you feel like something might be wrong, pursue it and get it checked.”
